Oxbridge

American  

[oks-brij] / ˈɒksˌbrɪdʒ /

noun

1. Oxford or Cambridge University, or both, especially in contrast with the redbrick universities of England.

2. upper-class intellectual life in England, as felt to be under the influence of Oxford and Cambridge universities.

   a bitter attack on Oxbridge by the younger writers.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Oxford and Cambridge, or of upper-class, intellectual traditions or manners associated with these universities.

   a career formerly open only to Oxbridge graduates; to voice the proper Oxbridge sentiments.

Oxbridge British  

/ ˈɒksˌbrɪdʒ /

noun

1. 1. the British universities of Oxford and Cambridge, esp considered as ancient and prestigious academic institutions, bastions of privilege and superiority, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      Oxbridge graduates

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Oxbridge

The college's head, Sonita Alleyne, the first black head of an Oxbridge college, has removed her name from a petition defending Arday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Virginia Woolf then got into the act, criticizing the BBC Home Service as middlebrow, despite its newsreaders’ plummy Oxbridge accents.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

Ted is a cartoon creep with an Oxbridge hauteur, but Theo’s shortcomings may be too subtly rendered for a play that cries out for more definition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026

Approximately half of the Oxbridge offer-holders at LAE this year have been eligible for free school meals, in the care of a local authority, or are young carers.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

“Wish I’d brought a brolly,” she drawled in the plummy, educated tones of the Oxbridge colleges.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein